Me
by RueEmerson
Summary: Chronological series of one-shots about how I envisioned Daryl and Carol's relationship progressed in the prison and beyond. I don't own Caryl. Previously published as standalones.
1. All of Me

**_A/N: Ever since I saw a fan vid using "All of Me" by John Legend with clips from the show, this song haunts my dreams and I can't stop thinking of Caryl. So here's a one-shot [set in Season Three] featuring duo, who I hope permanently unite in TWD:S5._**

_"What would I do without your smart mouth?/Drawing me in, and you kicking me out/You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down. What's going on in that beautiful mind/I'm on your magical mystery ride/And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright."_

Daryl stomped through the cell block, pissed.

He was going out of his mind.

The woman infuriated him. She wanted him around and then she would chew him out. He would lean up against her and she would lean back. She was hot one minute and then she was cold the next.

His head was spinning.

Carol had told Daryl to stay safe during his hunt that afternoon, her eyes soft and tender. His mouth had twitched up in that classic Dixon half-smile and nodded.

Yet when he returned hours later with a doe in tow, Carol was irritated with him. Sure, he had a tussle with a couple of Walkers and may have gotten a few scrapes in the process, but he was otherwise unscathed.

They had exchanged words, in front of several witnesses, her accusing him of not being careful, him yelling back he had survived this long just fine.

Damn woman, he thought, as he strode toward his bunk, tearing off his shirt and tossing his crossbow in the corner. He winced.

Daryl may have lied a little when he said it was merely scrapes. He had been so focused on his target, a Walker had nearly reached him before he noticed it. Startled, he had reared back and stumbled, slamming into a tree and nearly dislocating his shoulder as the bark collided and ripped the top layer of skin in that spot. It had hurt like a bitch and he had struggled to carry the doe over his sore shoulder.

He peered over his shoulder, gritting his teeth as he saw the bruised and bloody spot reflected in the mirror.

Carol chose that moment to appear and gasped when she saw his injury.

"Shit," he cursed, jerking his head in her direction, his face guarded.

_"Even when you're crying you're beautiful too/The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood/You're my downfall, you're my muse/My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues_."

Carol had instantly regretted the argument as Daryl stalked off.

She bit her lip and Maggie gave her a gentle shove, encouraging her to go make up with him.

The man made her crazy. He took calculated risks but always came back to her. He would seek her out in a crowded room and then he would avoid her. She didn't quite understand this slow dance they did.

Would she ever?

She followed after his retreating figure with the intent to apologize.

"_Give me all of you/Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts/Risking it all, though it's hard_."

"Pookie," she breathed as she stepped into his personal space. He tried to sidestep her.

"Don't," he growled, his eyes wild like a wounded animal.

Carol narrowed her eyes and gripped Daryl's arm with a strength he didn't know she had.

"Don't what?" she shot back, her anger rising. "Don't express concern when you get hurt? Don't touch you? Don't talk to you? Don't what?!"

Daryl glared at her, refusing to answer. Carol in turn refused to let him pass.

"We've had this conversation before, dammit! I told you don't even pretend like you don't care," she shouted.

"_'Cause all of me/Loves all of you/Love your curves and all your edges/All your perfect imperfections."_

Something inside him snapped. He suddenly hauled her to him, ignoring the radiating pain. He ground his mouth on hers as his fingers ground into her hips.

He was tired of fighting.

It took Carol a moment to register what was happening. Daryl nipped her bottom lip and her shocked reaction allowed his tongue access. Her eyelids drifted shut and she slipped her arms around his neck.

When his lips grazed her jaw then sucked on the jugular in her neck, Carol arched against him and accidently clenched her fingers into his wounded shoulder.

Daryl hissed at the contact, snapping Carol out of her haze. She leaned back so she could look in him the face.

"Let me fix it," she pleaded. He sat on the edge of the mattress and allowed her to doctor him without another sound.

Once Carol had set aside the gauze and alcohol, she pressed her lips to the bare skin between his shoulder blades and slipped her arms around his chest. Daryl rested his hands over hers and closed his eyes.

"I love you," she murmured into his back.

He was silent for a few beats.

They had never actually said it out loud; it had always been implied with every shared gaze and every subtle touch.

"Love you too," he replied in his low gravelly voice. "C'mere."

Daryl twisted around and pulled her into his lap. Carol gingerly placed her hands on his shoulders. Their eyes locked.

_"Give your all to me/I'll give my all to you/You're my end and my beginning/Even when I lose I'm winning."_

When Maggie ventured into the area to tell them dinner was ready, she realized it was too quiet. She tentatively peeked in the doorway.

Carol was curled against Daryl's side, her bare shoulder sticking out of the blanket he had pulled over them. He had one arm propped under his head and the other protectively wrapped around her. Their clothes littered the floor.

Maggie smiled to herself and backed away.

_"'Cause I give you all of me/And you give me all of you_."


	2. Come for Me

**_A/N: I'm seriously addicted. Almost forgetting to sleep or eat because of it. Is that bad?_**

There were too many people.

Daryl felt like he couldn't breathe.

Who would have guessed he of all people would be concerned about prison overcrowding?

It didn't help that Rick was still touch and go with reality. The pressures of leading this family continued to be too much for the man. He had snapped at Daryl earlier for just asking a simple question.

Daryl cagily paced the tombs, ironically his only place of solitude. No one else ventured down here much. The kids had been ordered to stay out and the adults didn't want to tangle with any stray Walkers.

He slammed his hand against the wall and leaned his forehead against it.

Would he go off the deep end like Rick? Daryl wondered.

Their original family was slowly dwindling, one by one. On top of it all, he'd lost his brother.

He felt like he was drowning.

"Daryl?" a soft voice asked from behind.

He hadn't even heard her footsteps. The woman he was deathly afraid he'd lose for good the next time around. The reason he'd put a bullet in his own brain if she perished because he couldn't stand the thought of living if he no longer had the woman he loved.

Carol inched closer, not wanting to spook him. She could tell he was agitated. He had disappeared after dinner. She was one of the few who knew he came down here to hide.

Daryl turned his face to look at her, to let her see to the very core of him.

He wasn't slipping away from her and yet he was. So much loss, so much pain. Carol knew exactly how Daryl was at. She had been there herself after Sophia died.

When she finally reached him, he allowed her to lean against the wall beside him.

Carol knew better than to talk or touch him. She just wanted him to know she understood and she wasn't going anywhere.

After a moment, he shifted and trapped her between his body and the wall. She could feel every sinewy inch of him as his blue eyes bore into hers.

His mouth roughly covered hers as he pressed himself to her. Before long she matched his intensity, kiss for kiss, bite for bite. She unbuckled his belt and freed him after he shoved down her pants.

Hoisting her up, Daryl drove into her without preamble. Carol clung to him, whimpering and trying to find leverage.

"Stop, Carol!" he growled, his jaw clenching, his eyes screwed tight. "I'm gonna lose my shit if ya don't." She immediately stilled.

Once he finally got himself under control, he readjusted his hands on her thighs and started thrusting into her. She held onto his shoulders, her face buried in his neck.

All that could be heard echoing in the hall was heavy panting and flesh slapping flesh.

Carol could tell Daryl was getting close because he began pumping up into her harder, grinding his pelvis against her sweet spot.

"I need ya t' come for me," he hotly breathed in her ear.

For a split second, Carol wondered if he was even referring to the passionate position they were in.

But his command was all it took for her to climax. She muffled her cry in his collarbone.

Grunting, Daryl rode through her orgasm that milked him dry. He slowed his rhythm before slumping against her.

Neither really knew how long they stayed there in the tombs. Neither really cared.

They eventually pulled their clothes back into place, watching each other without uttering a word. Their bodies had done all the talking.

Daryl let Carol lead him out of the darkness … for the moment anyway.


	3. Wait for Me

**_A/N: Third one-shot in this series called "Me." My take of what would have happened after Rick tells Daryl he's banished Carol from the prison._**

Daryl gripped the railing, his knuckles white.

He was sure he hadn't heard Rick right.

"Ya couldn't have waited for me?" he growled, his eyes narrowed at the man who he considered a brother.

Rick stared at him without remorse.

"No. I wasn't about to bring her back with Tyreese here," he replied.

Daryl shook his head and slammed his palms against the rail.

"Ya had no right! It wasn't yer decision to make alone!" he groused.

"She's fine. She has a car, she has supplies," Rick said.

Daryl got up in his face.

"It ain't right! Ya shoulda waited for me," he almost yelled, his voice almost cracking. "Ya shoulda waited for me …"

Daryl stomped off and Rick heard him gravelly whisper, "Wait for me, Carol."

* * *

><p>Carol's eyes were dry as she stared into the pitch black from her perch on the porch of the abandoned shack she was sleeping in. She had cried herself out the day Rick left her standing on the side of the road.<p>

She wasn't mad at Rick for making the decision he made. She understood his position. She knew what she had done was wrong in his eyes because she hadn't consulted the council first.

She was mad at Rick because she didn't get to tell Daryl goodbye. She knew the group was unlikely to forgive her, including Daryl. But she wished she could have spoken to him one more time.

Carol sighed and turned in for the night.

* * *

><p>Daryl had refused to look back. He had immediately packed his stuff and boarded his bike without a second thought. He wasn't about to lose the woman he loved, the woman who had kept him sane.<p>

Glenn hadn't even said anything when he let Daryl out the gate. He assumed the hunter was headed out on a run.

Daryl drove straight for the neighborhood where Rick had said he'd dumped Carol, keeping his eyes peeled for the car she'd been given.

He hoped she hadn't gone too far, that maybe she'd even decided to defy Rick's order to stay away from the prison. He knew it was a long shot that he'd find her, but he'd die trying. His life was empty without her.

* * *

><p>Carol figured the shack was as good a place as any to dwell until she could figure out what she wanted to do. However, if she was going to stay there for a while, she needed more supplies.<p>

She got in her car and headed toward the neighborhood she and Rick had originally scouted. It had several houses they hadn't searched.

* * *

><p>Daryl pulled onto one of the neighborhood streets and parked along the curb.<p>

How the heck was he going to track her? he wondered.

He revved the engine and slowly drove down the street.

* * *

><p>Carol parked near the house they had started at and grabbed her pack before starting down the sidewalk, ignoring the decaying bodies strewed in the yard.<p>

She walked to the first house next to the ones they had cased and stepped up on welcome mat when she heard the telltale noise of a motorcycle.

* * *

><p>Daryl spotted movement on one of the porches and swore he saw grey hair.<p>

* * *

><p>Carol swung around and watched Daryl pull up in front of the house.<p>

For a split second she was sure she must have been dreaming. There was no way Daryl would be here, she told herself.

But there he was in the living flesh, dressed in that damned leather vest with wings on it, striding across the lawn towards her with determination, his hair in his eyes as usual.

* * *

><p>Daryl couldn't believe it. There she was, literally standing before him, looking as she had the last time he'd seen her. More beautiful than ever, he thought.<p>

He reached her in record time, and without hesitation, he pulled her into a tight embrace, his nose in her hair.

"I thought for sure I'd lost ya," he muttered.

Carol numbly stood there for a moment before returning his hug, leaning into him, breathing in his scent, not trusting herself to speak.

"Ya okay?" Daryl asked pulling back enough to cup her face, his blue eyes meeting hers.

She nodded, biting her lip.

"You came for me. Why? After what I did …" she beseechingly asked.

"Ya did whatcha thought was right," Daryl said. "Rick had no right to abandon ya. I told him he shoulda waited for me first."

Carol gave him a watery smile.

"Yer mine," he said. "Wherever ya are, I'll be, too."


	4. Here with Me

Daryl listened to the rain patter on the roof of the shack they were living in.

He listened to Carol's soft breathing, her head nestled under his chin, her warm body draped across his. He listened to his own heartbeat thundering in his ears.

He listened to the threadbare mattress creak under them as he blindly reached for the quilt she'd confiscated on a run that was now bunched at their bare feet. He tugged it over their bodies while keeping a firm grip, holding her to him. She shifted, burrowing deeper into his chest.

Daryl still couldn't believe he was here with her. He tightened his arms around her as he reflected on how much he actually liked her touch, the feel of her beside him. And how much he needed her.

He had never needed anyone before the turn. Not even Merle.

Sure he had followed his brother wherever he went, but he didn't have anything else better to do. He had no purpose, no real meaning, no nothing. They had aimlessly drifted.

Then a little blue-eyed waif of a girl had veered into his crosshairs along with the silent warrior woman he now held close. He would have given anything to save Sophia, to bring her back to her mother, whole and human. While he knew he and Rick had done all they could, he still ached over the tragedy at the barn.

There was a small part of him that wished Carol's tubes weren't tied so he could be instrumental in bringing a little piece of sunshine back into her life.

Daryl sighed and pushed aside those thoughts to focus on the here and now. Carol was here with him and he would rather die than be separated from her again.

They had discussed off and on for the better part of a week whether to take their chances and return to the prison. She still felt obligated to care for Lizzie and Mika. He repeatedly told her he'd go wherever she was. It didn't matter what path she chose.

Carol had yet to decide. She was conflicted between wanting to start over with Daryl on their own and reuniting with the ragtag bunch she considered family. Her maternal instincts refused to shut off; however, her survival instincts were just as strong.

Daryl dozed off only to be woken by muffled noises. He momentarily panicked and sat up, startling Carol and rousing her from her sleep. It took him a minute to realize the sound was coming from outside from walkers.

Carol rubbed his arms and shoulders, coaxing him to lie down.

"We can take care of them in the morning," she whispered. Daryl finally relaxed enough to slide back under the quilt with her, gathering her close.

She wedged a thigh between his and he swore she purred as she idly traced her fingers across the planes of his chest. He tried not to growl but she obviously trying to stir him up.

"Shouldn't we be sleeping?" he muttered, his voice deeper than normal due to his arousal.

"Why? We're awake anyhow," she teased, her hand inching its way down his abdomen. He bit back a groan this time when she stroked him. She angled her body over his and straddled his waist.

He could barely make out her silhouette, not that he needed to see what she was doing. He gripped her hips as she positioned herself over him before sinking down hard.

This time she was the one biting her lip to keep from moaning. He always felt so good inside her, thick and throbbing.

Carol had rarely enjoyed herself before the turn, but every time with Daryl proved sex with another human could indeed be pleasurable. More like downright fantastic, she decided as she rode him.

The bed scraping the floor was the only distinguishable sound in the shack as they rocked together. Breathy sighs and grunts were stifled as much as possible so as not to alert or attract the walkers outside.

When Carol found her peak, she pitched forward to muffle her cry in his neck. Daryl thrust up into her a few more times before gritting his jaw to keep from shouting her name as he found his release.

Sated, they drifted to sleep, ignoring what was beyond the wooden walls.

**_A/N: They have no idea the prison has fallen and their group is scattered … Thanks for the support of the "Me" series. Can't wait to see where this goes as TWD:S5 gears up!_**


End file.
